As you may have seen last week, we’ve been deploying a camera trap/trail cam at a site along the River Frome, just outside Wareham out of pure interest to see what ‘tales from the riverbank’ we can capture on film. This last week we left it deployed without checking the memory card as to give us the best chance of capturing as many species as possible on film. We struck lucky again with the Otter family terrorising our camera and giving it a good sniff, as well as the ‘dog’ Otter strutting on past again, spraying as he went. We also caught footage of a Wood Mouse, Brown Rat, Grey Wagtail, Moorhen, Mute Swan and then a largeish, bulky, very furry creature which didn’t show its face, but the profile gave it away. After a few discussions we were happy we’d caught footage of a Mink, an aggressive species which can cause numerous issues along our river banks, especially for Water Voles. However, after some discussions on it sounds as if Otter normally ‘trump’ Mink in the aggression and territorial disputes, so maybe this lone mink is just a passer through the area due to the more regular presence of the Otters we’ve been filming.

Mink – River Frome, outside Wareham – 19/02/19

Bird wise, the Sand Martin was still feeding over the River Piddle at dawn and a Green Sandpiper in Holes Bay NE near the Upton CP boundary outflow was a rare sight, and the 2 over-wintering Coot in Holes Bay NE were still near the bridge. Mediterranean Gulls continue to arrive into the harbour, some of which were night-sound recorded entering the harbour coming down the Piddle Valley. At Swineham, better views of the White-fronted Goose were obtained suggesting that it is the same bird from earlier in the winter, but having now obtained more of its ‘white front’. A Ruff was off Swineham Point, the gravel pits held 9 Pochard and 48 Coot but there seemed to have been a clear out of Shoveler. There were still 6 Cattle Egret in fields along Nutcrack Lane at midday.

It was due to get a lot warmer this week, but although we’re seeing signs of spring in terms of new birds arriving (and departing) and numerous birds beginning to sing etc, there’s still a blimmin chilly wind taking over. This is due to settle down by the end of the week and then some south-easterlies are due to kick in, when we could begin to see even more signs of spring. Perhaps the first Wheatears, Garganey or Little ringed Plover? After all, March 1^st is only 8 days away. This is a stark contrast to this time last year when the beast from the east had already hit us hard once, and was then prepping for another dumping of snow in early March. We can do without that this year please…the birds really didn’t like it! A vigil from the north Wareham Walls mid-morning to look for displaying raptors produced the Sparrowhawk pair again several Common Buzzard, along with a thermalling Marsh Harrier above the Piddle Valley. A Sand Martin was also actively feeding over the River Piddle too with a Grey Wagtail singing  near the bridge. At Swineham, there was another Sand Martin and Marsh Harrier there too and the White-fronted Goose was seen on the gravel pits.

That spring feeling continued when 2 Sand Martin flew in over Swineham at dusk, possibly having just arrived in to the harbour. The male Black Redstart was still behind the Thistle Hotel and a Great Northern Diver was off Baiter. We’ve also been carrying out some night monitoring work in the Piddle Valley and have been recording numerous Common Snipe, Coot, Little Grebe and Teal moving up (and out)? of the harbour.

 Little Grebe – Night migrating trill call – Piddle Valley 16/02/19 @ 23:07

What a mix of a day. It began bright, still and calm but then a building SSW wind built and by the end of the day it was a tad chilly. However, there were some remarkable sightings, including the springs first Swallow! This is in line with a small arrival of both Swallow and House Martin in to the UK at the end of last week due to the high pressure and southerly airflow that’s currently coming up from southern Europe and North Africa. We wouldn’t normally expect to see the fist until at least the third week of March but hey…we’re not complaining! Hopefully this has now opened the floodgates and we’ll be littered with summer migrants by March 1^st! The Glossy Ibis that was seen briefly at dusk on Friday was again seen, this time at dawn (07:10) flying from the Swineham direction over towards Arne Moors. Despite numerous search’s from Slepe Heath it sadly couldn’t be relocated. A single Ruff was in the lower Frome Valley next to Bestwall and in the Piddle Valley a pair of Sparrowhawk displayed beautifully at around 7:30am. At Bestwall a White-fronted Goose was found feeding which looks to be a different bird than the juv present late last year and early into this year with todays individual showing a full ‘white-front’.  Ringtail Hen Harrier were logged at Swineham, Middlebere and Lytchett Fields. Spoonbill were logged feeding in Middlebere, off Shipstal, in the Wareham Channel and Lytchett Bay. The adult Black Redstart was still behind the Thistle Hotel and a Great White Egret was at Little Sea, Studland. Cattle Egret commuted between Holme Lane (6 in the morning) and Nutcrack Lane (5 in the afternoon). An adult Black Brant was logged during the Poole Harbour WeBS count off the Green Island shoreline, 2 Crossbill flew over Slepe Heath, 1 Yellowhammer flew over Soldiers Road (good record for here) and at Holton Lee a Lesser Redpoll was on the feeders. A semi-respectable count of 4 Marsh Harrier left the west harbour roost at dawn and at Swineham GP 4 Pochard, 24 Shoveler, 2 Bearded Tit and 3 Rock Pipit. At Poole Park, as well as a large lorry stuck in the mud, the Mandarin looked on in amusement as did the 2 newly arrived Black Swans and there were 122 Black-tailed Godwit, 79 Oystercatcher, 13 Redshank and 3 Little Egret. Med Gull numbers continue to build with several birds heard calling at sites around the harbour on the low tide. In Parkstone Bay 4 Goldeneye and 7 Great Crested Grebe were off the beach. 

White-fronted Goose – Bestwall – Trevor Warrick

Goldeneye – Parkstone Bay – Rene Goad

Today we hosted our first ever low-tide cruise, which saw us venture up the Wareham Channel towards the mouth of the Frome, before then making our way out across the rest of the harbour. Without wanting to blow our own trumpet, it’s safe to say it was a resounding success. One of the first birds seen was a ringtail Hen Harrier over gold Point, Arne before another (or possibly the same) gave us a great flying display over Arne Moors. We were then treated to several fly by’s of up to 4 Marsh Harrier and 10 Spoonbill which were originally in a distant channel came and settled really close to the boat feeding. Strangely a Common Scoter was settled in the west of the Wareham Channel, suggesting that some have begun their inland migration north already (peak is usually March). Along the mudflats Dunlin, Lapwing, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwits and a few Grey Plover fed happily and in the shallows both Red-breasted Merganser and a few Great Crested Grebe were feeding. Out in South Deep a Great Northern Diver settled close to the boat and 2 Black-necked Grebe were off the west end of Brownsea. The Brownsea Lagoon hosted 3 Greenshank, c300 Avocet, c100 Bar-tailed Godwit and smaller numbers of the more regular species. The male Black Redstart was still in the courtyard behind the Thistle Hotel and at Lytchett Fields there were 2 Water Pipit, 1 Marsh Harrier, 1 Peregrine, 3 Greenshank, 3 Green Sandpiper and 1 Spotted Redshank. Along Holme Lane 5 Cattle Egret were in the cattle field at dawn but soon moved to the fields along Nutcrack Lane by mid-morning and 2 Egyptian Geese were in fields along the Wareham bypass.

Spoonbill – Wareahm Channel – Derek Morgan

Highlight of the day definitely goes to a Glossy Ibis that was seen during a vigil looking for Bittern, at dusk over Swineham, seeming to leave the Arne Moors area and headed up the Frome Valley. The last Glossy Ibis in the harbour was spring 2018 and that too favoured this area and actually stayed for 4 days so it could well still be around. 5 Cattle Egret were seen heading into roost along the Wareham Channel but were seen earlier at both Nutcrack Lane and Holme Lane. A Jack Snipe was seen at Swineham Point and a Barn Owl was hunting along the edge of the gravel pit. Off Middle Beach, Studland 12 Black-necked Grebe were on the water. On Hatch Pond, Pochard numbers increased to 6 and the Great Crested Grebe pair were seen copulating. With the fine weather today it was amazing to hear that the southerly air flow from southern Europe and NW Africa actually deposited the springs first Swallows and House Martins down in Cornwall which is extremely early but a welcome sight!!!

This weather is just too much! A balmy 13 degrees in mid Feb? Mind you, this type of weather really primes you for the up and coming spring migration season, which is realistically only 3 weeks away from getting under way. There was some signs of movement this AM when 3 Pochard and 4 Tufted Duck were fresh in at Holes Bay south at another Pochard was at Hatch Pond. Along Nutcrack Lane 7 Cattle Egret were in the fields to the south of the road and 3 were seen along Holme lane earlier in the day. At Middlebere a ringtail Hen Harrier flew past the hide and c700 Avocet were roosting on the high tide. At Holton Pools 1 Water Pipit, 1 Spoonbill, 1 Spotted Redshank and 1 Kingfisher were logged and c40 Redwing and the Little Owl were seen in and around the reception building. At Upton CP good numbers of Shoveler and Pintail are still off the Stone Bench and in Holes Bay NE 600 Dunlin were feeding with 150 Black-tailed Godwit, 70 Avocet and 3 Goldeneye. Poole Park the Mandarin was joined by 2 Australian Black Swans. The male Black Redstart was still behind the Thistle Hotel. The PCW Drain today saw a conservative count of 30 Chiffchaff along the channel which is a great mid Feb count…many of them were singing.

Pochard – Holes Bay South – Paul Morton

Tufted Duck – Holes Bay South – Paul Morton

Pochard – Hatch Pond – Rene Goad

Pintail – Upton CP – Clare Slade

Spring has well and truly sprung this week and with the warmth of the morning sun many birds seem to be ‘getting in the mood’. At the PC World drain this AM there were a minimum of 20 Common Chiffchaff, several of them singing and sub-singing in the scrub. These are all over-wintering Chiffchaff as its way too early for spring migrants to be arriving from southern Europe and North Africa, however our ringing research over the last few years has shown an increase in Chiffchaff numbers at this site during late January/early February which could be over-wintering Chiffchaff from other areas visiting this productive feeding site before they themselves move away on spring migration. Also singing there this AM were 2 Song Thrush, Siskin and Greenfinch.

At Lytchett Fields there was a single Spotted Redshank and Greenshank with 3 Med Gulls back out in the bay. Through the rest of February and into March Med Gulls will become more conspicuous as they return from over-wintering sites as their easily recognisable calls will be easily heard at sites like Baiter and Whitley Lake on the low tides. In Parkstone Bay 2 Goldeneye were settled with 7 Red-breasted Merganser also there and 11 Turnstone were on the beach. Out on the heathlands the first Woodlark song of the year was heard at Arne and Dartford Warbler were also enjoying the late winter sunshine as they became really active around midday.

Spring is creeping in slowly but surely with many birds now sub-singing at dawn, and in fact along the Frome Valley this morning a Skylark was in full song high in the sky near Holmebridge. Again, calmer weather helped with sightings and around the Studland Peninsular there was plenty going on with 18 Black-necked Grebe, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 1 Great Northern Diver off Middle Beach and 2 Sandwich Tern, 1 Slavonian Grebe and 4 Black-necked Grebe off Shell Bay. Off South Beach 4 Black-necked Grebe were off shore and on Knoll Beach 14 Sanderling were on the tide line. From the Houseboats the Black-throated Diver was off the SE corner of Brownsea before flying out of the harbour mouth and there were 3 Great Northern Diver in South Deep with 4 Black-necked Grebe. Along Holme Lane 3 Cattle Egret were in the field and 6 were in fields along Nutcrack Lane. The male Black Redstart was again in the courtyard of flats out behind the Thistle Hotel. We also set up a camera trap along the Frome Valley this last week and having not ‘camera trapped’ anything other than 3 Rats and a single Robin, we couldn’t belive it when we checked the memory card this morning only to find a small family of 3 Otters had triggered the camera in the early hours of the morning. They even took a snotty liking to the camera and gave it a good old sniff before moving on up the river!

Much calmer today making open water viewing a bit more straight forward. The Studland Peninsular is always worth checking after a few days of consistent wind as birds will often take shelter either in Studland or Shell Bay, or within the harbour its self. There was evidence of this  today as a Black-throated Diver was close in shore off Shell Bay and a new in female Eider was off the southern Brownsea shore. Off Middle Beach, Studland a decent passage of auks (Guillemots and Razorbills) headed out into Poole Bay to feed for the day with several settled off Old Harry. There were also 12 Black-necked Grebe, a single Slavonian Grebe and 4 Great Northern Diver (3 flying, 1 settled) off Middle Beach. Out from Cliff Drive, Canford Cliffs a tight flock of 28 Great Crested Grebe were off the beach. At dawn a Great White Egret headed up the Frome Valley, as did 6 Cattle Egret which were later in the field at Nutcrack Lane. There are currently now only 2 Marsh Harrier in the harbour and the single female Hen Harrier continues to endure her own company.  At Lytchett Fields there were singles of Spotted Redshank and Spoonbill (later seen on Holton Pools), 3 Green Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank and 1 Water Pipit. In the Arne car park a Firecrest was in the holly by the Coombe Heath entrance track and Dartford Warbler were out enjoying the early spring warmth. We also conducted one of our first night recording sessions of the season, this time in the Piddle Valley, a potentially excellent and productive migration corridor in and out of the harbour. In terms of birds moving, it’s still very early in the year, however we still logged 2 Coot, 1 Water Rail, 2 Common Snipe, 2 Teal and 2 Redwing. Although these numbers are low, it’s a sign that some species are already beginning to move about, and by the first week of March (and certainly into the second week) winter thrush’s, waders and wildfowl will all be on the move in far greater numbers heading back north.